NIE Newsletter: December 2018

It’s December! With the winter season upon us, we wish you and your students the happiest of the holidays! We hope you have a wonderful break and get to spend some quality time with your families and friends having fun and making great memories!

December is…

The Holiday Season! Check out page 58 (December) of our Ultimate Holiday Activity Guide for information and creative ways to teach your students about St. Nicholas Day, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas! This guide covers it all with a day-to-day look at the special days that we set aside to honor events and people. Special days are listed for nearly every day of the year.

Write a Friend Month. Help encourage the development of your students’ writing skills by taking a pause from the festive holiday fun of December, to celebrate Write a Friend month! Check out this post from Scholastic for tons of creative ideas and ways to include Write a Friend month in your classroom. You can even find free printable stationary.

Special December Dates

December 15 – Bill of Rights Day. This is the day the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution— known as the Bill of Rights —became effective. Use the It’s Your Right supplement to help your students learn facts, history and what role these rights play in our life and society today.

December 17 – Wright Brothers Day. The Wright brothers were American brothers, inventors and aviation pioneers. This day commemorates the first successful flights in a heavier than air, mechanically propelled airplane, made by Orville and Wilbur Wright on December 17, 1903, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. View the Celebrating Flightsupplement which chronicles the history of flight from unmanned balloons through the Wright Brothers historic first powered flight to man’s exploration of outer space.

December 25 – Christmas Day. Before school is out for winter break, wrap up the semester with an affirming exercise. Instruct each student to fold a piece of paper in half, and write their name on the outside. Then, have the students pass the paper to their left, and each person will write down one good quality about the person on the front of the paper. Emphasize that no negative comments are allowed. Continue passing to the left until the student receives their paper back. Each student will go home with a sheet full of positive and encouraging words, a treasure they will hold onto for years. I know many people who have done this and have their letters hanging on walls, or in special boxes.

December 31 – New Year’s Eve. From all of us at News in Education, we wish you, your students, and your families a very happy holiday season, and a wonderful new year!

Monthly Calendar

This calendar provides a subject-specific focus for each day of the week with activities for every school day of the month and year:

Monday – Language Arts

Tuesday – Social Studies

Wednesday – Math

Thursday – Science

Friday – Thematic for each month with topics of Newspaper Knowledge, Character Education, Critical Thinking, Life Skills, Careers, and Moral Reasoning.

Woody & Chloe Chapter Book

Our special series has come to a close, with chapters 1-10 posted, but you can still view all chapters, podcasts and activities, and start anytime to have your students follow our favorite pups, Woody & Chloe, in the chapter book, My Town, written by Leigh Ann Florence and illustrated by Chris Ware.

Thank you to the local businesses, non-profit organizations, and subscribers who donate to support our NIE program. Together, we are helping over 200,000 K-12 students around the country to develop reading skills, grow as critical thinkers, and become engaged citizens in their local communities through no-cost access to the eEdition (digital newspaper) and other educational resources. Teachers, parents, students, and interested individuals can click here to find your site’s local sponsors.

Contact Us

Don’t forget, you can email us directly at niehelp@mcclatchy.com with any questions, comments, or for help with your NIE account.